


The dogs we want to know

by stjarna



Series: The ghosts no one knew [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Deleted Scene, Dogs, F/M, TheLateNightStoryTeller, background info, ghosts that we knew, head canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8412547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Deleted Scene / Background info on Darwin and Pygmy Puff, Fitzsimmons' dogs (as they appear for example in Chapter 14 of Ghosts That We Knew]





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheLateNightStoryTeller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLateNightStoryTeller/gifts).



> This little backstory developed out of [TheLateNightStoryTeller and myself combining our two "Fitzsimmons will get a dog" head canons](http://the-nerdy-stjarna.tumblr.com/post/152254697154/thelatenightstoryteller-the-nerdy-stjarna) (This discussion was later expanded in private chats :) )

Pygmy Puff had done the same when Jemma was pregnant with Peggy; followed Jemma around wherever she went. Fitz joked that maybe their little rescue was a trained midwife. _Their_ little rescue. It still makes Jemma chuckle.

* * *

They talk about getting a dog when they move into their first apartment off base, only one month after their engagement. And even though the Scottish Deerhound that keeps showing up in her dreams is always in the back of Jemma’s mind, she spends _three_ weeks searching for the best breed and the best breeder. She has _three_ folders with detailed statistics about which dogs shed the least, which ones barked the least, kid-friendliness, need for exercise, longevity. She has it _all_ planned out.

And then Fitz comes home one day holding a sad little black ball of fur.

“I found her at the shelter,” he says.

“You went to a shelter?” she asks angrily.

“I just wanted to look. Honestly,” he tries to defend himself. “I wanted to get an impression of different breeds… but then… look at her little face, Jemma!” He holds up the scrawny and tousled fluffball in front of Jemma’s face, but Jemma ignores the happy wagging tail and glares furiously at Fitz.

“We had a _plan_ , Fitz!” she exclaims. “I researched _every_ breed on this _planet_. I can’t believe you would just go ahead and get a dog without so much as checking in with me first.”

And then she sees them: four puppy eyes looking back at her--two blue, begging for forgiveness, and two brown begging to be loved. And Jemma’s heart melts seeing how happy it makes him, and how adorable the scruffy little monster in his arms is.

Her hand reaches out to pet the small black head, which immediately begins to dart its little tongue out trying to lick her fingers. “So what’s her name?” Jemma asks, somewhat calmer.

“They called her Lucy at the shelter,” he explains, “but I don’t think she really listens to that.”

“She doesn’t look like a Lucy,” Jemma mumbles. Carefully, she takes the small dog from Fitz and is immediately showered with wet little puppy kisses.

“How about _you_ name her?” Fitz suggests. “Seeing that I was the one who brought her home unannounced. It’s the least I can offer.”

Jemma giggles, tickled by the furball’s little tongue. She stretches out her arms to get a better look at their new pet, watching the dog wiggle in excitement. “Well,” she exhales, “she looks like a genetically altered Pygmy Puff!”

“Perfect!” Fitz exclaims.

Even though Jemma is still somewhat peeved that her meticulous plan to find the perfect dog breed has been cut short by Fitz’s impulse, Pygmy Puff quickly worms her way into Jemma’s heart. Within weeks, Jemma is head-over-heels in love with her, calling her every cute nickname on the planet, from Pygmy-Wiggly to Hufflepuff to Puffle-Snuff to Miss Little-Fluff-Ball, anything but her real name. Fitz teases her for it.

She becomes a chubby little pup, and Jemma strongly suspects it is because Fitz feeds her extra treats when she is working late at the lab. But she is the most lovable chubby pup imaginable, and when Fitz is on mission, and Jemma sits worried and alone in their apartment, staring out the window, she loves having Pygmy Puff resting on her lap, because believing that they miss Fitz together feels just a little bit better than missing him alone. 

* * *

 

And then, shortly after they get married, they move to their cottage in Perthshire. It looks exactly like the one she had dreamed of.

Two weeks later, they are sitting at the breakfast table, Pygmy Puff curled up on an extra chair, the sun shining through the kitchen window and into the corner of the room.

Jemma smiles, turns to Fitz, and asks, “You know what’s missing, Fitz?”

He follows her gaze to the sunlit corner, smiles himself, and replies, “A Scottish Deerhound?”

Jemma nods quietly.

* * *

When Darwin comes home with them, he is just about the same size as Pygmy Puff. But the big-pawed, long-legged, clumsy puppy quickly grows, and grows, and grows. And so does Pygmy Puff’s love for her ‘little’ brother. And when Peggy is born, on a cold Christmas Day, and Jemma and Fitz return a few days later from the hospital with their baby girl, Pygmy Puff and Darwin, with Daisy in tow, happily welcome the new addition to their family.

* * *

Now they were waiting for Baby Nr. 2, a boy, and like before, Pygmy Puff had become Jemma’s personal miniature-sized guardian.


End file.
